EU Accuses Israel Over Attacks on Lebanon

A Lebanese citizen clears debris to release the body of a victim buried under rubble after Israeli warplanes targeted a house in the village of Zebqin, in the southern town of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, July 13, 2006. Israeli forces intensified their attacks in Lebanon on Thursday, imposing a naval blockade on the country and pounding its only international airport and the Hezbollah TV station in Israel's heaviest air campaign against Lebanon for 24 years. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari) (Mohammed Zaatari - AP)

"The soldiers need to be returned," Bush said. "It's really sad where people are willing to take innocent life in order to stop that progress (for peace). As a matter of fact, it's pathetic." At the same time he said he was concerned that Israel's offensive could undermine Lebanon's fragile government.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed for restraint from both sides. But she suggested they do not share equal blame, repeatedly noting that the violence began with the soldiers' capture.

"I think that one needs to be careful to make a distinction between the root causes and the consequences of something," she said.

In the Middle East, Egypt warned that the violence could engulf the entire region in conflict and called on all sides to avoid "being dragged into a new cycle of violence and counterviolence."

"Targeting civilians under the pretext of fighting terrorism is unacceptable and unjustified. Israeli practices violate international law," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

But he condemned attacks on civilians by both sides _ a comment that could apply to Hezbollah's rocket attacks on northern Israel.

"We condemn any military action that targets civilians. We consider it a terrorist act, regardless of who the civilians are or its source," he said.

In Jordan, the second Arab country after Egypt to have a signed peace treaty with Israel, the government issued a statement condemning "Israel's use of force against unarmed civilians and the outcome in terms of the human loss and destruction of civil institutions."

But it clearly criticized Hezbollah, saying, "Jordan stands against whoever exposes the Palestinian people and their cause, Lebanon and its sovereignty to unexpected dangers."